Ashes We Burn
by Tinalouise88
Summary: Song fic. A wonderful prompt for the song The Labyrinth by Poets of the fall. Jareth watches Sarah after returning home from the labyrinth


This is for the lovely Sheyrina Labyrinthian Dragon. She posted this song by Poets of the Fall, which worked in such amazing ways.

I hope you all enjoy this little drabble of words. Sorry if it is so dreary.

I hope you like this Sheyrina

* * *

 _Down on your knees to find your way_

 _Through this labyrinth of why's_

 _Time and again, rig and replay_

 _When nothing justifies_

 _Or leaves a trace to tell_

 _A way out of your shell_

 _To sample life_

 _She left_ his _world in crumbles, bitter crumbles in her wake as she ran through those stone walls. After all this time, each one was different, each one destroyed him as each found themselves in some way or form. Win or lose, they found a piece of themselves in the Labyrinth they didn't know existed within them._

She had been the worst of them, taking pieces of his soul with each turn of a corner. Long before she found herself in the magical walls. No, she took pieces of his soul the moment she found the book one afternoon in an old bookstore. He felt the pull the moment she placed her hands on it, she was the one; she had to be the one. The one to free him from the curse of this life? She was beginning to look like a woman, yet she was still such a child in her mind. The awakening had yet to begin for her, it had to take a hold of her and draw her into the notion of passion. He wondered how long it would take for the fairytales to fade away to be replaced with the dreams of wanting need?

 _Time is a wraith_

 _At the point of no return_

 _A memory of the light of day_

 _Time is ablaze_

 _And so we burn_

 _Until the ashes of our lives_

 _Are blown away_

 _Wish I had the power to make you stay_

Time went by too fast, the child had been born already. She was still not old enough. She would never understand the quest fully, to see the reasons behind his choice of words.

No, he would be a villain once more, a role he plays to no end. A role he wishes he could throw away and never touch again. He wanted to be the prize, he wanted her to want him as the prize. Even if the child was won back, he wanted to have his happy ending. Not stuck in this cycle of never-ending runners. He wanted his Queen, he wanted his partner to hold onto at night.

Instead, the sun sets and the moon rises once more with him alone. Time was burning through them, ashes they would all be one day. One day too far into the future for himself, she would grow old, in what would be seconds for him.

 _Out through the frozen haze of grey_

 _If constellations align_

 _More brutally sliced by lie than blade_

 _Three acts of cruel design_

 _Disconnect the dots_

 _And against all odds_

 _Still survive_

She continued to believe, she held on the book refusing to give it up as she packed her room up of childish things. Still, she tucked it away in the corner of her night stand. Away from little fingers, away from parents who deemed it childish.

Her words echoed in his mind. Those fateful words that ended it all for another quest that was not to be. The steely gaze of her eyes that bore into his.

Her dreams began to change, she suddenly felt out of place in her world the more she refused to believe it had been a dream. The wonder turned to terror, relationships strained more as they couldn't understand what was happening to her.

This would be her end, only to be reborn once more. Another chance, another run, another choice to make. Would she ever make the choice he needed?

Would she ever be old enough to choose him?

 _Time is a wraith_

At the point of no return

A memory of the light of day

Time is ablaze

And so we burn

Until the ashes of our lives

Are blown away

Wish I had the power to make you stay

She hung on longer than he ever imagined, the days of medical intervention sent her into a daze. Still, she clutched her leather bound book, trying to remember why it had been so special. She couldn't throw it away and she never knew why.

She grew into a woman, sheltered and naive to the world around her. She came to his labyrinth and yet never fully returned. There was nothing he could do, he had no power over her.

She was alone in her little world, settling into a routine of morning coffee, her pills under the watchful eye of her stepmother who was getting the child ready for school. Her job at the same bookstore she once found the magical book in. Wasting away day by day, her body yearning to return to the place that was touched by magic. That place didn't exist to her anymore, he was a distant dream that no longer made sense. Though every man she mentally compares to him, that one eye that was dilated making it appear greyer than the other blue.

No one would ever compare to him, instead, she would yearn for someone, something that did not exist to her anymore. That was her reality, and one he could not save her from.

 _For the sake of thrill_

 _Would you own the kill?_

 _Would you impose your will_

 _On another still?_

Time was running out, as he watched her cry on her floor of her room holding her head. Fighting the demons that hid in her mind, ones she couldn't understand why they were there. The red giant, the wrinkled old man, the spunky little fox.

Tears dripped down her face, hitting the old mint green fabric she found in a trunk, along with a brocade embroidered vest she once found in New York with her mother.

Flashes flooding her mind as she picked up a broken music box. He watched her turn the key on the bottom. The familiar melody is haunting the room as she wrapped her arms around herself and rocked to the tune.

She's remembering, which will only lead her to the path of heaven. She's held on so much longer than the others. It pains him to watch the end, not wanting to see his beloved once more turn to ashes.

Her room is sorted into piles for her family, everything clean and spotless for when they would find her it seemed. She seemed to be doing so well as of late, it will be a shock to them. It was a shock to him, as he watched the scene unfold in front of his eyes.

He didn't want to know how she would do it, but he was cursed to watch. He saw so many burn aways, yet it was always a shock. It was always painful to watch; watching his love die away. His heart broke into further into pieces that barely held together as it was.

 _Time is a wraith_

 _At the point of no return_

 _A memory of the light of day_

 _Time is ablaze_

 _And so we burn_

 _Until the ashes of our lives_

 _Are blown away_

 _Wish I had the power to make you stay_

"Goblin King," she whispers into the darkness of her room. His ears peak and his breath stops suddenly.

"Take me away."

"Take me home. Goblin King, I am ready." Was all he needed to hear.

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Let me know what you think!


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